"Girls throw themselves at you... it's hard to say no" - Usain Bolt
Jamaican track star Usain Bolt gave a typically entertaining and engaging interview with The Telegraph, here are the highlights..Nadal vs Thiem live online: 2018 French Open final
'What I always wanted was to be great', says Usain Bolt, "Aren't you that already?", asks Mick Brown in his extensive and entertaining interview with the Jamaican superstar. Bolt's effortless èlan flashes across the page, it comes easily to him, as do most things.
Girls are literally just throwing themselves at you
Bolt's first mention of football in the interview comes with a note of sympathy, almost pity for England's professional footballers, he blames the British media for the pressure on the young footballers to marry early:
"I’ve been through the media. I understand how you guys are – especially the British media...
Every culture is different. Jamaican culture is different, when you look at women and men having more than one… It’s different. I’ve noticed that in Britain, every famous person, as soon as they get famous, they have to get married – like, it’s a rule. And I’m like, that’s not fair!
Rooney got married so young!
Like, Rooney got married so young – all the footballers that are English, as soon as they get really famous they have to get married. And I think it’s unfair to them.
You get famous, there’s so much pressure of girls wanting you. And for you to get married at 21, you have not lived one bit. It’s hard for you to stay with one woman because girls are literally just throwing themselves at you; and then you have the girls that the tabloids encourage pretty much to try to get with you. And that’s unfair to us guys – it’s hard to say no, you know what I mean? So I’ve learnt from you guys.
That’s the expectation. If you’re famous, you need to have a family – that’s what they need to sell in Britain, I don’t know why. It’s respectability. But I’m not English! I’m Jamaican! We have a totally different culture, so you can’t judge me based on your culture.’
"What I always wanted was to be great"
Bolt also defined what greatness means to him, and how he can achieve it in the Rio Olympics:
'For me, it means being remembered. People talk about sports all the time, and I want to be a part of that conversation, you know what I mean? When they talk about greats it’s always Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Pelé.
I want to be a part of that conversation so when they talk about the greats they say Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Pelé, Usain Bolt.’
'I’m still running. I’m still fresh in their mind. I want that when I retire I’m so great that you can’t forget me, because you can never forget what Ali and all these guys have done. They have really stamped their mark on history. That’s what I want to do, and I think this Olympics will help me to do that.’ His voice is almost a whisper. 'People tell me, you’re a legend… Yeah, but this Olympics will do it.’
By winning the 'triple triple' in Rio, Bolt would become the first ever athlete to win three gold medals in three consecutive Olympics.
The first to do it in two consecutive games at the 2012 London Olympics, who would bet against Bolt to cross that finishing line first line and measure up to his own definition of greatness in Brazil.